BBC NUJ members have called for an immediate recruitment freeze and and end to the 'growing trend for jobs for friends'. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

BBC journalists are to ballot for strike action after rejecting an offer of a “derisory” 1% pay rise.

Members of the National Union of Journalists are to be balloted over industrial action after passing a motion calling for an overhaul of the pay gap with programme-makers and senior management.

“The union has argued for a genuine alternative to the excessive payments to managers and the waste in the corporation,” said Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the NUJ. “[The NUJ] condemns the BBC pay offer of 1%. Unless there is a meaningful increase in the pay offer, with a settlement significantly more than [the Retail Price Index], this group chapel agrees to move towards an industrial action ballot and commits to campaigning robustly for a strong ‘yes’ vote.”

The ballot will run from 20 June to 11 July.

Trade unions criticised the corporation’s 1% offer, tied to a minimum of just £390, for those staff earning under £50,000, calling it “completely unacceptable”.

“[The NUJ] further condemns the new onslaught of job losses in BBC News, BBC Radio and potentially Scotland,” said the motion. “Cuts have been squarely targeted at frontline journalism, a decision that the current executive team seem committed to following through.”

BBC NUJ members called for an immediate recruitment freeze and an end to the “growing trend for jobs for friends”.

The NUJ said that the mood of the meeting showed that the director general Tony Hall’s “honeymoon is over”.

The motion also called for a “radical overhaul of executive pay and perks”, such as the “generous” expense accounts and car allowances that senior managers enjoy.

“There are structural changes that can be made that would result in fair pay, and free up cash for programming,” said Stanistreet. “Our calculations show that if pay was capped at £150,000, this would free [up] £20m which could be spent on journalism and programming. This would be to the benefit of the staff and licence payers.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We’re surprised that the NUJ has chosen to ballot their members whilst we are still in talks with the joint unions. The 1% pay increase we have offered is in line with the public sector. It is structured to benefit our lowest paid staff and excludes senior managers. The reality of the licence fee settlement means that we are constrained financially.”

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